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Building the Bible

Introduction

What is the oldest surviving complete Old Testament?

This distinction belongs to the Leningrad Codex, which dates from 1008 C.E. It was written in Hebrew. The Leningrad Codex is so called because it has been part of the collection at the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg since 1863. In 1924, the city’s name was changed to Leningrad, so the Codex’s name was changed accordingly. When the city’s name was changed back to St. Petersburg in 1991, the Codex retained its Leningrad prefix. The Allepo Codex is slightly older than the Leningrad Codex, but it has been missing some pages since 1947.